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January 14, 2020

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For linguists, it was the decade of the pronoun

On January 3, the American Dialect Society held its 30th annual 鈥淲ord of the Year鈥 vote, which this year also included a vote for 鈥淲ord of the Decade.鈥

It was the year 鈥 and the decade 鈥 of the pronoun. In a nod to shifting attitudes about gender identities that are nonbinary 鈥 meaning they don鈥檛 neatly fit in the category of man or woman 鈥 over 200 voters, including me, selected 鈥(my) pronouns鈥 as the word of the year and 鈥渢hey鈥 as word of the decade.

Pronouns, along with conjunctions and prepositions, are generally considered a 鈥渃losed class鈥 鈥 a group of words whose number rarely grows and whose meanings rarely change. So when pronouns take center stage, especially a new use of 鈥渢hey鈥 that expands the closed class, linguists get excited.

Word of the year votes are lighthearted ways to highlight the natural evolution of language. Candidates must be demonstrably new or newly popular during the year in question. Previous American Dialect Society winners have included 鈥渄umpster fire鈥 in 2016, 鈥渇ake news鈥 in 2017 and 鈥渢ender-age shelter鈥 in 2018.

Because so many words enter our collective vocabulary each year, the American Dialect Society also votes on subcategories, from 鈥淓uphemism of the Year鈥 to 鈥淧olitical Word of the Year.鈥 鈥淧eople of means鈥 鈥 used by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz in February 2019 to refer to billionaires 鈥 won the former, and 鈥渜uid pro quo鈥 won the latter.

While the American Dialect Society鈥檚 annual vote is the longest-running vote, other publications, from Merriam-Webster to Oxford English Dictionary, also announce words of the year. In December, Merriam-Webster announced that its word of the year was 鈥渢hey.鈥

It鈥檚 rare for words as simple as pronouns 鈥 鈥淚,鈥 鈥渉e,鈥 鈥渢hey鈥 鈥 to get so much media and cultural attention. But that鈥檚 exactly what鈥檚 been happening over the past few years, which made them a tempting choice for voters.

This year鈥檚 American Dialect Society Word of the Year, 鈥(my) pronouns,鈥 highlights the trend of people presenting their preferred pronouns in email signatures and on social media accounts 鈥 for example 鈥減ronouns: she, her, hers, herself.鈥 People started doing this to help destigmatize a nonbinary person鈥檚 declaration of their pronouns.

The Word of the Decade, 鈥渢hey,鈥 honors the way the pronoun has become a singular pronoun for many people who identify as nonbinary.

鈥淭hey鈥 has actually been used as a singular pronoun in English for centuries if the gender of someone being spoken about isn鈥檛 known, or if that person鈥檚 gender is unimportant to the conversation. Only in recent years has 鈥渢hey鈥 become widely accepted as a pronoun for nonbinary individuals for whom the pronouns 鈥渉e鈥 and 鈥渟he鈥 would be both inaccurate and inappropriate. It鈥檚 not the only option 鈥 some nonbinary people prefer 鈥渪e鈥 or 鈥渮e.鈥 A shift that didn鈥檛 happen naturally though it can drive some pedants mad, language changes as culture changes. In English, these changes usually involve new or repurposed nouns and adjectives, like what happened with 鈥渁pp.鈥 Originally shorthand for a downloaded computer application, it became a word itself.


 

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